Thursday, December 16, 2010

20101216 0932 Biofuels Related News.

SENATE ETHANOL AMENDMENT ON U.S. TAX BILL IN LIMBO
WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate leaders have not decided whether to allow a vote on an amendment to cut the U.S. ethanol tax credit by 20 percent that would be part of a massive tax bill, said Senate aides on Tuesday.
The current 45-cent a gallon tax credit along with other biofuels incentives will expire on Dec. 31 unless the Senate and House of Representatives agree to extend them. The tax bill would extend the subsidies through 2011.

DRYNESS HURTS BRAZIL CS CANE, FAVORS SUGAR OUTPUT
SAO PAULO, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Brazil's center-south 2010/11 cane crush will fall short of expectations after dry weather hurt yields, but the high quality of cane boosted the region's sugar output, cane industry association Unica said on Tuesday.
The region is now expected to crush less than 560 million tonnes in the season, down from the 570.2 million tonnes estimated in August.

GERMAN BIODIESEL PRODUCER EOP DECLARES INSOLVENCY
HAMBURG, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Leading German biodiesel producer EOP Biodiesel AG  said on Tuesday it had declared insolvency.
The company said in a statement it had been unable to reach agreement with its banks about finance.
EOP produces 132,000 tonnes of biodiesel annually at a plant in Pritzwalk in eastern Germany. In October, the company stopped biodiesel production following damage to a gear unit at its oil mill.

CHINA SIGNS DEAL TO ALLOW CASSAVA IMPORTS FROM CAMBODIA
BEIJING, Dec 14 (Reuters) - China has signed an agreement to allow imports of tapioca or cassava from Cambodia for use as a food starch as well as for ethanol production.
The agreement was signed during Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen's visit to Beijing, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a brief statement.

PETROBRAS BIDS FOR STAKE IN ETHANOL FIRM-REPORT
RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Brazilian state oil company Petrobras  has made an offer of about 3 billion reais ($1.76 billion) to buy 40 percent of ethanol producer ETH in an effort to become the leading player in the biofuels sector, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
Petrobras' biofuels arm, Petrobras Biocombustivel, said in a statement that it was not in talks with ETH, a unit of infrastructure firm Odebrecht.

BRAZIL ETHANOL EXPORTS WEAK EVEN WITHOUT US TARIFF
SAO PAULO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Brazil's ethanol exports will remain sluggish in 2011 even if a U.S. import tariff on the fuel, which has long been criticized by Brazilian producers, expires by year-end, analysts and industry officials said.
A modest rise in cane crop output if any next season and high sugar prices will limit ethanol output, they said.

BRAZIL MILLS, BURNED ONCE, WARY OF SUGAR RALLY
SAO PAULO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Brazil's sugar cane mills, burned badly two years ago by a costly over-expansion driven mainly by expectations of soaring ethanol demand, say they won't be fooled again.
This year, companies in the world's largest sugar producer are taking a far more cautious approach to growth as prices rallied to a 30-year high in February before halving -- and, within month, surging anew to yet another peak. 

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